The Danny of the Opera
by Red 'Allen' Walker
Summary: "Daniel," Mr. Lancer began, "you are Danny Phantom." Danny's class is doing a school play and he basically has a heart attack when his role got announced. Hopefully his voice sounds good enough. Based on WingsOfTech's Challenge! -


Danny always had a low heartbeat. Well, ever since the accident that is. He's already got one foot in the grave and has faced all sorts of enemies and prevent entire apocalypse. You would've thought he was invincible. Who knew it only takes a bald English teacher to make him go into cardiac arrest?

It was _Monday_.

If you didn't already understand the implications of that statement then let me spell it out to you. _Monday_ meant he had to adjust waking up at 3 PM for 2 days into waking up at 7 am. _Monday_ meant it had just been _Sunday_, the day which is ironically the secondmost paranormally active day of the week. _Monday_ meant it was 130 hours till it was 12 AM Saturday. Hurray. In short, **_Monday_** is the **_worst_** day of the week.

It was a _Monday_, at 7:55 AM and Skulker decided to attempt on taking his pelt. Danny was actually in a good mood. Skulker was determined to ruin that.

By the time he had caught the pesky ghost in his thermos and the time he had glanced at his watch, it was 8:15 AM.

He had English at 8:00 AM.

It takes 10 minutes to get to school on foot.

Luckily, he was a ghost. And ghosts could make it in 2 minutes.

Danny didn't bother to catch his breath or to fix his disheveled appearance as he opened the classroom door. He could faintly hear Mr. Lancer's voice droning inside. "Sorry Mr. Lancer," he offered softly.

Lancer didn't bother to bat an eye as he motioned for him to get inside. Well, that was new. He felt all eyes on him, and all the attention was unnerving. Well he did arrive 15 minutes late, but Paulina looked absolutely disgusted, Dash was well, grinning very widely, Sam wore a... pokerface? while Tucker offered her his best symphatetic look.

"_Daniel_," Danny's head snapped at the balding man. Mr

Lancer rarely called him by his first name.

"...you are Danny Phantom."

Danny had a cardiac arrest right then and there. He became paler than a sheet of paper and his eyes widened. In his mind was a chorus of curses.

"W-w-w-w-w-what a-are you t-talking about Mr. Lancer? I-I'm n-not--"

"Oh _please_, **_Fenton_**. There's no-one else that would fit the role." Paulina said in her scadalous voice. She sounded disappointed. _Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No._

"I-- uh, I-I'm not a g-ghost w-what?"

"Look Fenton, we're both unhappy about this. Swapping is unfair." Kwan frowned. Mr. Lancer spoke again.

"I understand that your parents are ghost hunters, but I'm sure they won't mind." _WON'T MIND?!? WON'T MIND?!?_ Danny was sure he was hyperventilating right now. He hopes it doesn't show.

"Fentina, calm down would you?! It's just a school project!" Dash slammed the table angrily.

A school project?

... Danny.exe has stopped responding.

Tucker and Sam wince from their seats. Danny looks at them scandalized. Tucker throws him a sympathetic look. Sam offers... support in her on way. And by support I mean, a criticizing '_Danny, only you. Only you live like this.'_

Mr. Lancer breaks his line of thought.

"Mr. Fenton, you can't back out on this project. This might be the project that saves your grades. Plus, you have to make up all the homework you've missed."

Danny gaped, "I-uh," at Mr. Lancer's raised brow he backs off, "Yes, Mr. Lancer." Danny's adrenaline went down_ (how is that even possible? He was sure all his bodily functions shut down!) _and he zoned out. This one time event easily broke through his lifetime stress threshold.

~*~

"Your expressions weren't helping! Paulina looked disgusted, I thought my identity was blown!" Danny placed his tray on the table, grimacing at the cafeteria food._ 'At least it's not ectoast.'_

"Considering the fact that you actually shoved your intangible hand inside a vending machine during the Pointdexter incident, phased through the floor countless times, literally just swap your outfit and hair color and nobody noticed, I don't think people figuring out your secret identity is actually possible." Tucker shrugged.

"Yeah Danny, people here are pretty oblivious." Sam offered.

"And to think I've done so much to not get busted." Danny groaned. "Wait, what are we doing anyway?"

Sam huffed. Tucker took it as a sign to explain. (Probably not but who can stop him from doing what he wants?) "We're doing a play. A musical to be exact."

"What?" Danny spoke incredulously. "What musical?"

Tucker snickered. "Well, it's none other than, drum roll please," Tucker tapped his fingers on the table, "the Phantom of The Opera."

Danny blinked.

"Paulina suggested it. The teachers liked the twist so that's what we're doing."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Danny slammed face first into the table. "Please don't tell me I have to act with Paulina."

"What? I thought you liked Paulina?" Tucker squeaked.

Danny lifted his head and frowned. "I guess I was disillusioned. Tuck, you already know this."

"Uhuh." Tucker mused, "And don't worry. Paulina didn't get the role. Her voice was too squeaky."

"Who got the part then?"

"Valerie." It was Sam who answered.

"VAL?!" Daniel paled. "Oh no no no no no. We're going to have to wear costumes, are we? I'm going to cosplay myself. In front of Valerie. Who HATES me down to her very core!" He gripped his hair in a panic.

"Hey, no one's pieced it together before." Sam said in a half-hearted attempt at optimism.

"Well they certainly will now." He frowned, tussling his hair. "Maybe I should... dye it an ugly gray or something. Just wear a horrible cosplay or something." Danny mused. This was so not good.

"I doubt that Mr. Lancer would allow that." Sam picked at her food. Tucker did the same. Danny looked downcast.

"Why did Mr. Lancer even choose me for the role? I could've been anything else. The uh, weird guy or something, any background character, stagehand, heck even the sound director."

"Definitely not the sound director, Danny." Sam sighed.

"What? Why?"

"Remember the DJ incident?"

"Ugh. Come on, that was one time."

"And one time too many." Sam nodded.

Danny glared. Sam and Tucker patted his back. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Danny."

_Riiiiiiiight_.

"Waiting for Godot, people settle down!" Mr. Lancer huffed exasperated. The exclamation of of titles made everyone turn their heads.

"Now everyone please pay closer attention because this is a very important project." Speaking of projects, Mr. Lancer looked pointedly at the empty desk of his trouble student. "Annnd Mr. Fenton is late again." He added lowly.

"This project is worth 50% of your final grades. I've talked to your other teachers, and they decided to turn it into a collaborative project between Arts, Physical Education, and English."

This elicited numerious groans.

"Since there are 2 weeks until the school play, the 3 subjects decided to use their respective periods for your practices. We'll do dress rehersals at the last 4 days, but the song practice starts as soon as possible. Mickey, are you done the revisions on the script?"

Mickey nodded, and with a twinkle in his eyes he continued, "Yes, Mr. Lancer! I matched the songs with Danny Phantom's famous ghost fights set in the old times." Who knew Mickey was a theatre kid?

"It's not an actual version of play, more like a mock play. It is for Casper High and Amity Park's eyes only so you need not worry too much. But, I expect all of you to give your very best in this performance," Mr. Lancer paused, "especially you, Mr. Fenton."

Danny gulped. "Y-yes, Mr. Lancer."

Apparently, the ghosts decided that Danny didn't need to practice the role. Danny decided that the universe conspired against him by making the rehersals scheduled on the most active days of the week. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

It didn't help that Mr. Lancer was considering on replacing him on his role. Sure, he might make it out with his secret intact, but it meant failing three subjects.

"Okay, Danny, it's your turn."

It was his turn to sing. He'd been practicing on his own (and so did the majority of the other stars, but they've never actually heard him sing. Ever.

He knew how he sounded though. He knew he could sing decent, he was at least not out of tune, but when tried singing during his ghost fights the ghost only screeched and told him his voice was terrible. The ghost activity in Amity Park increased after that. Less violent, yes, but there were more ghosts than there should be. He remembers how Ember grimaced when she heard him, and promptly flew away.

He knew that he sounded horrible.

The song was freaking Phantom of the Opera.

With none other than Valerie Gray as Ember Dae.

And then the sounds of the orchestra blared through the speakers. It resonated within the very halls of Casper High. It was an after class practice (how ever they convinced the principal and Mr. Lancer, Danny didn't know.) The music reminded Danny of a haunting, of the ghost zone, and the basement.

_"In sleep he sang to me,_

_In dreams he came..._

_That voice who calls to me,_

_And speaks my name..."_

Valerie sang with conviction, determination, and at the same time calm. Everyone gaped, including Danny, but only he knew what was going through her head. She was the Red Huntress, who sought for Phantom for ruining her life.

_"And though I dream again,_

_For now I find..."_ Valerie turns, a graceful look upon her features. No trace of any anger.

_"The Phantom of Opera is there!" _She breaths, and Danny gulps. Her powerful voice bounces through the walls. _"Inside my mind..."_

All eyes turned to Danny. He felt the pressure blowing up. Valerie gave them a stunning performance, and they expected the same. He just had to sing like he always did. Make them scamper off with his terrible vocal quality. The beat dropped as the orchestral went down. He sucked in a breath.

**_"Sing once again with me, our strange duet!"_ **He closed his eyes. He was surprised how low his voice went. He didn't sound like an adult, it wasn't that deep. It was still a teenager singing an octave lower than usual.

**_"My power over you, grows stronger yet..."_ **He was shaking. Calm down Danny. You're the best at playing pretend.

_"**And though you turn from me, to GLANCE behind!" **_He emphasized the word 'glance'.

**_"The PHANTOM of the OPERA is there!" _**He ennunciated the vowels clearly, and perfectly. He stressed the word '_Phantom_' and spoke '_opera_' instead of singing it. **_"Inside... your mind..."_**

He hears a click and the music stops.

Danny's eyes snap wide open. Aw crud, they really hated his voice didn't they? He shook.

"Fenton, what the truck?"

With a shaky breath, he nervously looks around the room. Everyone looked at him, jaws dropped.

"The Pied Piper, Mr. Fenton! I never knew you could sing!

Wait, what?

"What?" He croaked. _Whaaaaat_???

The sound of a poor quality recording echoes somewhere in the room. Apparently, Star was taking a video and was playing it back now.

**_"Sing once again with me," _**The Danny on screen began. And he finally understood. His voice had a haunting feel to it when he sang. There was also an echo that came from who knows where. It was probably Danny's blessed ghostly pipes that make the sound which was only pleasant to human ears, he supposed. Ghosts hated it.

Everyone gawked at him, and he felt heat creep up om his face as he profusely blushed. He wasn't used to the attention when he was just a nerdy, scrawny, and ghost-spooked human.

Just then, blue mist curled from his mouth. Everyone was too engrossed to notice.

"I... uh... gotta go!" Danny screeched and promptly ran out of the door. He was definitely going to forget this ever happened later.

~*~

A/N: I needed this after that all horrible angst. Gosh that was heavy. Back to topic! I wanted to write a fic about Danny singing and everyone gawking at him sooooo yeah. Btw! This story was a challenge by **_WingsOfTech_**! Hurray! This was such a great idea and I hope I did it justice. If I have the time, I might just write the actual school play...

I know schools have actual plays they hold of actual musicals but it is not allowed for them to change the play, for example mash-up the movies and the original production but in my school since we were the only ones who would see jt we're allowed to do whatever we pleased provided we all knew the original. Soooo yeah. I am an avid fan of musicals, especially The Phantom of The Opera which is why I immediately chose this musical. Okay that's it for the explanations. See ya later!


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